Edith’s mouth was twitching from forced laughter.
‘Clothes are meant to be worn, not to suffocate.’
It was because she tightened the corset and wore smooth silk clothes in layers on her body, which only allowed activity and functionality when wearing normal clothes.
It was so frustrating that she couldn’t even say it. The dress made of high-quality fabric imported from the East was like a pretty and expensive one-man prison.
How refreshing would it be to just throw it away right now. However, she couldn’t afford to be oblivious to the fact that she was also putting on a facade, so she couldn’t just dismiss it. First of all, the opponent on the other side was too formidable. It was none other than the illegitimate child of a prestigious noble family from the capital.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Lady Galloway.”
“Oh, thank you. You’re from Silverglen, so how do you know me?”
It was even more surprising to see her blink as if she were surprised. Only Viola Galloway could say casually to a person who came to meet her while meaning a hillbilly like you pretends to know me. However, even if Edith messed up her smile with this level of provocation, she wouldn’t be able to laugh. Edith gave a deeper smile as she tightened her straight shoulders. Be as sweet as you can, but not as obsequious.
“Lady Galloway’s reputation is all over the country.”
In fact, it was hard for even a shepherd in the country to not know the name of Viola Galloway.
The family of the Duke of Galloway is a political magnate who picked out only three consecutive winners in the dispute over the succession to the throne, and the current Duchess of Galloway was a princess from a duchy across the sea. Viola, the only daughter of such a family and the heiress of a huge fortune, was beautiful even in appearance.
She was beautiful with shiny blond hair and pure purple eyes. It was a beauty that not only men but also women couldn’t resist without comparing back to their own.
Edith’s dark brown hair and oak-colored eyes looked like dull shadows. Edith, who was on a mission to return such a beautiful woman from this remote area by frustrating her purpose, lamented in her heart.
‘A lady who would have never lacked anything in her life came to beg for marriage.’
It was a great humiliation for the young duchess of Duke Galloway to travel from the capital to Silverglen, which took more than ten days, to complete a political marriage with the Marquis of Rodian.
For her, she would never have considered the Marquis of Rodian as a one-off dance partner for a ball, let alone a husband candidate, until just a year ago. But now, the Marquis of Rodian was a sweetheart who the Duke of Galloway wanted to marry his only daughter.
“I’m flattered, but where is the marquis?”
“Oh, that is.”
“It’s our first meeting in twelve years, so I want to see him soon.”
Everything happened as the situation in the kingdom changed rapidly. After Queen Griselda was removed from her role, Rodian, which had been completely alienated from the power structure, had now emerged as the new king’s mother’s family.
However, the current Marquis of Rodian, Alpheus Rodian, did not welcome this change. He shuddered at the rush of door-to-door applications and engagement offers.
In particular, his aunt and cousin—the current Dowager Queen Grisselda and Regina, who ascended the throne—did not care about Rodian in this difficult time, but changed their attitude and approached him.
Of course, the most criticized name among them was Galloway.
「Crazy Galloway. She’s acting like she’s going to die, clinging to me so desperately!」
Galloway recognized the winner of the succession dispute three times in a row. However, in the fourth, she chose Princess Trisha instead of Princess Regina, so she was defeated so miserably that her victories so far were overshadowed.
At this rate, the king was about to wipe out the duke’s family. There were not many cards for the Duke of Galloway to choose from.
To the extent that it’s best to come in with their head down to Rodian, who unilaterally broke his engagement twelve years ago and kicked them to the curb. It was calculated that the king would not try to kill the duke’s family, the only maternal cousin’s wife, and the cousin would inherit.
「Now let’s talk about our old loyalty and strengthen our solidarity through marriage?」
But the political strategist Galloway overlooked one thing. The grudges of the marquis, who has supported a family completely alienated from aristocratic society since he was a teenager. And that was the cause of the duke’s defeat.
「I’m speechless because I can’t believe he thought I would fall for that trick.」
「Marquis. With all due respect, are you not interested in a plan such as marrying the duke’s only daughter and devouring the Galloway Duchy?」
「Edith, what did you just say?」
Edith, as a trusted confidant, was able to speak frankly to the marquis. In addition, no matter what she said, the marquis would only return thoroughly rational answers.
So, when the request for a visit from the Duke of Galloway came in, Edith thought of an objective way to benefit and asked questions without much thought.
Now that she thought about it, the other people sitting around her had looked at her with tears in her eyes. It was a mistake to assume that it meant encouragement as usual.
The marquis became angry as if he had been acupunctured on his face. He did not vent his anger on Edith, but his straight forehead had veins, his dark eyebrows trembled, and his blue eyes burned with anger.
Edith was so surprised that she hiccuped when she saw the scary expression. Yes, it was much better to be hard on Lady Galloway in front of her than to face the marquis in that shape again. Edith counted to three in her mind, and then replied to Viola Galloway, who was waiting for an answer.
“The marquis has gone on an inspection of the estate.”
“What?”
“He’ll be back in a few days.”
“What did you just say? Are you saying that His Excellency is absent?”
“That’s right.”
The blonde beauty seemed shocked and remained silent for a moment. She guessed so, because he was the first man to leave the house and leave the house when she said she was going to visit.
She couldn’t wait for the entourage to arrive, so she’d even surrounded the exterior wall of the dingy manor with straw and wooden boards to keep out the cold. Perhaps they should have restrained themselves from going to such lengths. However, Edith had already made a slip of the tongue and found herself in the position of leading the defense in the upcoming Gallaway battle. Furthermore, as an employee and with the duty of loyalty, she had to do as instructed by her employer and lord.
Still, the lady who controlled the noble children flying and crawling in the capital was great. Although her complexion turned a little pale, Viola asked for confirmation of the facts again in a calm voice.
“I contacted him last week to check. Was the date delivered incorrectly?”
There was a shallow cough behind her back. It wasn’t a sign that the butler had a cold, but it was time to start. Edith once again tightened her mouth. It didn’t matter whether it looked like a forced smile or not, so she just wanted a curve that closely resembled a smile. That was the only thin shield that would protect her now.
“No, it was delivered properly.”
“But how could this—.”
“It was a violet card sealed by the Galloway family’s eagle crest. I saw the marquis opening it himself.”
Viola Galloway’s eyes became sharp as Edith cut off the words and recited. She cut off her words, but what the words implied was more problematic.
‘I am the one who saw right beside him the letter you sent to the marquis.’
It was customary for documents to be sent in a personal telegram between nobles to be invisible to the subordinates, whatever their type.
In other words, to those who served as subordinates and their nobles as masters. She fully expected and hoped that Viola would understand, but as soon as she said it, her spine was chilling when the opponent responded. Edith stared at the movement of Viola’s lips, as nervous as a rookie soldier holding the spear upside down. The doll-like beauty said coldly.
“Come to think of it, I didn’t ask who you were.”
That was true. And it was only natural. After all, she assumed that she was the guide who would lead her to the marquis who was waiting inside. The young duchess’s judgment was reasonable and, in fact, correct.
Edith was a full-time official who served the Marquis of Rodian’s fiefdom as treasurer. She was also recognized as a closest retainer for six years from the year before he came of age to the age of twenty-five. However, the other party should not have known such a fact. It was Edith’s job to kick out Viola Galloway by claiming to be a camouflage designated by the marquis.
“Yes, you didn’t.”
Edith shrugged her shoulders, then, startled by her self-consciousness, straightened her stance. While serving as a bureaucrat, she unconsciously made gestures with her body. Looking carefully, the young duchess of the duke stood still as if she had not seen anything, but only her purple eyes had become much fiercer. Did Edith feel bad because she was being sarcastic?
The final purpose was to make the opponent feel bad and return, so it was good if she was offended. From the Marquis of Rodian’s point of view.
Alpheus Rodian, the cold, feisty, and decisive lord of Silverglen, was a great man who would utter vitriol regardless of whether tears or blood tears came from the eyes of the kingdom’s best beauty.
If he had been here, he would not have admired the face of the beauty in front of him, but rather burned his hatred by finding a part resembling the Duke of Galloway.
That’s why all the vassals, as if prostrating themselves, prevented him from directly confronting the Galloway family.
Even if they never saw each other again, if he became an enemy to the Galloway family, they warned they would become a nuisance not only to Rodian but also to Queen Grisselda.
Instead, many sincere people were sacrificed and Edith was one of them. Unlike her lord, Edith was infinitely ordinary and possessed a common sense of emotions and conscience. The nagging sensation was unbearable for her. Even if she had received promises of responsibility, a lie was still a lie. It was not a trivial matter that could be momentarily overlooked and ignored…
“My name is Edith Argyle.”
“Agyle, were you a vassal of Rodian? Was the title Viscount?”
“Yes. The Viscount Argyle now is my older brother. And I am ashamed to introduce myself.”
The decisive words stuck in her mouth. She practiced countless times, but thinking that this was the real situation she had been waiting for, the pressure was completely different.
Still, she couldn’t help but do it. If you pulled out the knife vigorously and put it back, the enemy would not return quietly because of his will for peace. If she started it, she would go to the end. Edith put her clasped hands on her stomach and gathered her strength. Then she fired a shot at Viola Galloway.
“I am the fiancée of the marquis.”
The young duchess’s eyes became indescribably fierce when she heard that.
Edith thought, taking a step back without realizing it. She needed to charge more overtime. Now that she thought about it, she should have guessed that the Marquis of Rodian’s offer at the risk of such conditions would be daunting.
It was not something to think about what you could do with a ten-year annual salary. The young duchess was never an easy opponent.
Perhaps the Marquis of Rodian did not seem to know her true self, which was all he had seen a few times as a boy. Or he knew but didn’t tell Edith.
Yeah, it would have to have been. The reason for his silence was also understandable. Edith was the only one in the Rodian estate Silverglen to act as the marquis’s fake fiancée as he wanted.
So, he probably pushed aside the difficult and challenging aspects and presented tempting rewards upfront. As the person in charge of managing the entire finances of the marquessate, Edith had never witnessed such an unfair contract in the past five years or anything worse than that. If it were someone else’s business, she would have reported it properly and put a stop to it. But because it was her own work and she couldn’t see beyond her immediate tasks, this is how things turned out.
“Excuse me, Lady Argyle.”
The unexpected attack must have hurt quite a bit, Viola Galloway’s words cut off awkwardly.
But when Edith looked up at her, she still had a graceful and relaxed—or rather relaxed—expression.
Well, at this point, it seemed like she should recant her initial judgment and move on. She was furious and said that she would rather run into the daughter of the Duke of Galloway than deal with the Marquis of Rodian.
It was better for the marquis to reveal his feelings without filtration, and the young duchess, who could not tell what she was thinking, was like a snake with its eyes closed. A large snake, full and drowsy, or hungry and waiting for an unguarded prey to come near.
“I have never heard of your engagement.”
“Oh, of course you haven’t.”
Edith answered stiffly, trying to hide the tension that was about to burst. Having made predictive questions and prepared answers for them for today, the words were pretty smooth regardless of her state of mind.
“I heard that the situation in the royal capital is complicated. Of course Lady Galloway knows much better. His Excellency will ask for the marriage license after some arrangement.”
Princess Regina, daughter of Queen Grisselda, won a political battle with her half-brother and was already called Her Majesty. However, according to the king’s will, the coronation ceremony had not yet been held.
She first tried to organize the royal genealogy that the previous king had disturbed. It meant that she would completely take over the succession of her half-sister, Trisha, and then ascend the throne as a legitimate and only royal daughter.
Thanks to that, the whole country was in a mess. The Duke of Galloway, who supported Princess Trisha and became embarrassed, had time to roll his head to live. The young duchess’s eyebrows flinched when she stabbed the point implicitly.
‘Ick.’
Edith thought, pretending not to see it, awkwardly averting her gaze.
‘You have to do what your employer tells you to do. You’re doing great, Edith Argyle.’
It was the Marquis of Rodian’s order to touch the opponent’s pride at every opportunity.
Viola Galloway, a woman who had everything the Duke of Galloway had as a dowry, grew up more like a princess than the current king.
Even if her father’s wrong choice had put his title, estate, property, honor, and all her dowry in a position to fly away, she would not have been able to bend her pride.
Therefore, it was the marquis’s calculation that she would not be able to endure her anger and return just by reminding her of the reality. When she only heard the marquis’s words, she thought it would be because there was a sense of urgency that came this far. However, when she experienced it in person, what he said seemed to be right. Indeed, she was the heir to the duke’s family, which was among the only three in the country.
By comparison, Edith was a viscount whose number wasn’t even known, not a king, but a daughter of a local noble family belonging to the marquis.
No wonder it was impossible for her to look into Viola Galloway’s mindset.
‘Let’s not think about anything else.’
In any case, Edith would only have faithfully followed the marquis’s instructions and had the young duchess return as soon as possible.
All the marquis wanted was to completely dismiss the Duke of Galloway’s proposal, and all she wanted was a bonus to be paid after the fact was confirmed. Oh, that’s right. When she thought of the money, her dry smile bloomed again. Edith smiled tenderly and looked at the young duchess.
“Is there anything else you’re curious about? I’ll tell you as much as you want.”
Viola Galloway stared at Edith, and only when she became inwardly anxious, she caught her eyes and answered coyly.
“Thank you, but it’s all right. I want to rest, so could you show me to my room?”
“In that case. Follow me.”
